At the end of day 1 of proceedings at the championship, Nigeria played 4 games in the group widely referred to by many as ” the group of death” recording one win and 3 losses against african rugby’s power houses.
The Black Stallions battled hard against Zimbabwe despite the massive support enjoyed by the home team.
The Fabian Juries tutored lads fought hard but were so unlucky as they lost by 19 to 26 against the host nation. This was the Nigerian Team’s first match experience after 2 weeks of intense camping, the team led by Azeez Ladipo caused an upset as they romped to a 28-0 win over Ivory Coast in the second game despite many observers and keen followers not giving the Nigerian team a chance.
After expending so much energy in the 2nd game, the team fell to Kenya by 38points, then later suffered another 49points loss to Namibia.
Speaking after the end of day one of the tournament, Technical Adviser of the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation, Dele Coker said “it is encouraging to see the home based players compete well against top African Nations which justifies the federation’s resolve to stick with home grown players and give them the necessary exposure.
“He further affirmed that there is hope for rugby in Nigeria as the home based players proved that if well groomed and nurtured they can be a force to reckon with in Africa and beyond, despite the limited time to train coupled with limited international experience as the team exhibited true courage and understanding of the game.
The competition enters day 2 today as Nigeria will face Uganda in the last match of pool A, the outcome of which will determine if Nigeria will compete for the plate or bowl.
photo credit NRFF
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